


Watch

by lem0nshark



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, M/M, Oops, god i'm sorry, its more than 1000 words oops, this was meant to be short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-06-20 10:53:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15532680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lem0nshark/pseuds/lem0nshark
Summary: It’s over, it’s over, they lost, and now half of all life is dead and they don’t have a plan, they have no idea what they’re doing.





	Watch

**Author's Note:**

> okay so this started as a headcanon drabble on the wsmagc server, and then i moved to word and it was at 261 words, and then i wrote more and now im at over 1000 so whoops

They're on the Grandmaster's ship fleeing Sakaar when Thor looks over at Bruce and says "Hey, you know that it's going to be fine right? I wouldn't let anything happen to you or the big guy, I've grown fond of you two." and Bruce smiles and shakes his head, brushing it off as Thor just saying it to keep him calm and un-hulked-out. Why Thor would care about keeping either him or the Hulk safe escaped him. (Bruce had never been in touch with his emotions, but he knew what the fluttering bits of hope in his chest meant and he was getting good at steadfastly ignoring them.) 

Later, as Bruce throws himself off of the ship onto the Bifrost, he assumes, he hopes that Thor is ready to deal with the Hulk again. Then a tiny soft-spoken voice in the back of his head that grows louder the more time he spends with Thor whispers that Bruce shouldn't be nervous for Thor because the Hulk seems content around him, and Bruce pointedly doesn't think about how he's also content around Thor. And then Bruce hits the bridge and his world goes black before exploding into green.

(Sometimes when Bruce hulks out, he drops into memories after the other guy takes over. This time is no different, and he finds himself staring at a bloodstained floor and he can feel rough bruises on his arms because this was before the Hulk and he can smell the sharp coppery scent of blood. He turns and there's his father and even though he knows his father is long gone the irrational panic shoots through him and he wants to curl up and cry but mom is gone, shes dead, dad killed her and if he doesn't stay quiet he'll kill Bruce too.) 

Most people think that because the Hulk so completely takes over Bruce he can't remember anything that happens while he's hulked out. And for the most part that's true, but sometimes, if Bruce can let himself resurface far enough, he can catch glimpses. So Bruce looks, and he sees flashes. The Hulk grappling with the giant wolf, Asgard crumbling, and Thor- striking and beautiful and sad, but regal and lovely all the same. And then Bruce goes under again, and when he comes to he's in a building that is refreshingly earthen-looking. 

Through the whirlwind of events following his return to his home planet, Bruce mulls over his last glimpse of what the Hulk saw before he cowered back into the recesses of Bruce’s mind, seemingly scared off by an enemy he failed to defeat. And what he sees terrifies Bruce because what he sees is Thor, but it isn’t Thor, not the way Bruce knows him. He sees Thor, shackled, and scared, bound by metal. Thor, defeated and broken, so unlike the king he had been before. And then it’s Heimdall’s voice and blinding lights and Tony and god, he hasn’t seen Tony in so long. But Bruce knows, he knows deep down that there’s no way Thor survived, because how could he? And it leaves Bruce feeling raw and ragged and it hurts, just enough for Bruce to think, oh, and realize that given enough time, he could have fallen in love. Then Bruce looks a little closer, digs a little deeper and feels the Hulk, suspiciously quiet, and suspiciously remorseful, and he thinks, oh, and realizes that maybe he wasn’t the only one.

(Bruce is working on something and it's brilliant, it's going to leap worlds in scientific discovery, but then he tests it and suddenly all of his worst qualities are worse and he's on the run and there is nothing he can do but keep going because if he doesn't he's going to get caught and locked away and there are times when Bruce is at his lowest after realizing suicide won't work that he thinks maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing.)

Bruce is in Wakanda, flinging aliens all over the place, and he’s the one smashing for once, finding that its strangely cathartic and he can understand why the Hulk likes it so much. Then the sharp smell of ozone spills through the air and Bruce perks up because his mind immediately jumps to Thor and then Thor is there and not dead and Bruce can’t keep from shouting out because goddamnit Thor’s alive. But it all goes to shit and there is dust on the ground and in the air and Thanos is gone and Bruce is trying not to inhale too deeply because he’s scared he may accidentally breathe somebody in. So he stumbles out of the suit and nearly hits the ground hard and when he can actually process it he realizes he’s shaking. And then Thor is there and Bruce grips him so tight and winds his arms around him and tries not to let go and tries not to cry because they lost, they lost and now they have to deal with that, and the Hulk is staying silent but breathing heavily and Bruce is so tired. 

Before he realizes or registers it, they’re in the palace and about to be taken to separate rooms, but Bruce holds Thor’s arm in a vice grip because he can’t lose him again, what if he disappears, he’s all we have left. And objectively Bruce knows that Thor probably doesn’t want Bruce clinging to him but then Bruce can feel Thor hold him just as tight, and they stumble into their assigned room, neither one of them speaking or bothering to take off any of their blood-stained, dirty clothes. They fall down onto the bed, both of them too afraid and too panicked to let go, both of them too tired to speak, and Bruce can feel Thor sobbing and Bruce can feel himself sobbing too and they lay there like that. There, entangled in one another, broken sobs ripped from aching throats, tears tracking down muddy and dusty faces, and God, who can say that the dust isn’t one of their former teammates and Bruce should find it within himself to feel embarrassed at being so vulnerable, but he can’t and he doesn’t think Thor could either. 

(It’s over, it’s over, they lost, and now half of all life is dead and they don’t have a plan, they have no idea what they’re doing.)

(In a universe that seems half as bright, chock full of worlds devastated, a god and a man who isn't quite a man lay tangled together, neither ready to let the other go. Life and Death look on and then turn to each other, and if Life looks half as energetic as before Death doesn’t mention it. And Death holds out her hand to Life and Life takes it and they press together, energy intermingling, because they were hurt by this too, but they can do nothing. They can do nothing but watch.)

**Author's Note:**

> this goes out to all the wonderful people in the wsmagc server, i love y'all


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